EarlyMusicNews.Org

"I FAGIOLINI was founded in 1986 while the singers were students at Oxford University. In 1988 the group won the UK Early Music Network’s Young Artists’ Competition and has since released 14 CDs and 2 DVD. It gives about 50 concerts a year from the BBC Proms and major European festivals to further afield such as the Far East and both ends of Africa. Its unusual name has been misspelt, mispronounced and misunderstood throughout the world.

‘Like their concerts the disc is lively, imaginative, even anarchic... and a lot of fun.’ BBC Music Magazine

I Fagiolini’s core repertoire is Renaissance and contemporary solo-voice ensemble repertoire. In recent years it has pioneered innovative staged presentations with a project called The Theatre of Music, which brings classics of Renaissance secular music to life. This project has been a huge success with promoters and audiences. It recently released two DVDs on Chandos (Vecchi L'Amfiparnaso with Simon Callow) and Naxos ('The Full Monteverdi' - also broadcast around the world). " See website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Feb 23, 2008 | Hits: 414

" The MadriGALS are an enchanting a cappella trio who sing the music of the Renaissance with beauty, elegance-and an irrepressible sense of fun. Three very different women, the GALS bring an eclectic range of vocal backgrounds to their ensemble, including opera, folk, jazz and musical theatre. But the unity in this diversity is their common background in theatre, which leads them to approach Renaissance music from the point of view of its stories and history, for the human richness embedded in the music. " See website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Feb 23, 2008 | Hits: 341

"New Renaissance Voices was formed in 1987 to perform polyphonic music of the 15th and 16th centuries. For ten years the choir made its regular home at St John the Divine, Richmond in south-west London. In 1998 the choir moved its base into central London and sang regularly for two years in the newly refurbished church of St John’s Waterloo. NRV has performed as part of the Southwark Festival and its concerts now regularly take place in Southwark Cathedral.

NRV’s founder and director is Bruce Saunders. A choral scholar at Cambridge and an experienced recitalist and oratorio soloist, he performs regularly with baroque orchestras using period instruments in London and elsewhere, and has appeared as a soloist with many London choirs and choral societies. Active in early music in Bristol and Portsmouth since the early 1970s, he moved to London in 1984 and drew together a group of friends interested in exploring the early music repertoire.

NRV is now a group of about eighteen singers. Since their first concert in March 1987 in the church of St Mary the Virgin Mortlake, the choir, whose name was chosen to echo something of the ars nova style of renaissance polyphony, have given more than fifty concerts exploring the music of composers from Dufay, Ockeghem and Josquin to Gesualdo and Monteverdi. NRV’s repertoire explores European rather than English music. This wider range of styles requires a willingness to move away from the soaring legato with which English Tudor music is customarily performed, in order to learn how to respond vocally in new ways to the enormous variety of demands made by the music of this fascinating period. " See website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Feb 23, 2008 | Hits: 326

"Polyhymnia is a small ensemble of singers and instrumentalists focusing on historically informed performance of sacred music from the courts and cathedrals of the Renaissance world. The singers that comprise the ensemble are drawn from many sources, including some of the finest church choirs in New York. Past and present members have sung with Saint Thomas Fifth Avenue, Saint Ignatius of Antioch, Saint Luke in the Fields and Holy Apostles. Originally artists-in-residence at Saint John’s in the Village, the ensemble moved to its current home at Saint Ignatius of Antioch in 2003, when the ensemble and its audience outgrew its original home. Currently producing three concerts a year in New York, Polyhymnia has also made a name for itself at performances in Boston as a popular entry in the Boston Early Music Festival fringe events, and has been the guest choir at a number of special events, most notably the centenary celebrations of Holy Cross Monastery, in Westpark NY. " See website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Feb 23, 2008 | Hits: 505

"Renaissance Voices was founded in 1995 by a group of Maine singers on tour in London. The original idea for a small, auditioned, Portland-based chamber ensemble still guides our choices today. Although our emphasis is the a capella performance of early European music, in recent years we have broadened our repertoire to include other origins and periods, especially the 20th century. Every season we find and present music by women. We are a non-profit organization. " See website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Feb 23, 2008 | Hits: 309

"Founded in 1996 and based in Saint Paul, Minnesota, The Rose Ensemble reawakens the ancient with vocal music that strives to stir the emotions, challenge the mind, and lift the spirit. Each performance illuminates centuries of rarely heard repertoire, bringing to modern audiences research from the world’s manuscript libraries and fresh perspectives on history, languages, politics, religion and world cultures and traditions. With nine critically acclaimed recordings and a diverse selection of concert programs, the group has thrilled audiences across the United States and Europe with repertoire spanning 1,000 years and over 25 languages, including new research in Hawaiian, Swedish, Middle Eastern and American vocal traditions.

The recipient of the 2005 Chorus America Margaret Hillis Award for Choral Excellence and a first-place winner in the sacred music category at the 2007 Tolosa International Choral Competition (Spain), the group’s concerts and recordings have been called “first class” (Neuss-Grevenbroicher Zeitung), “impassioned and brightly alive” (Choral Journal) and “engaging . .. satisfying” (Gramophone). Founder Jordan Sramek received the 2010 Louis Botto Award from Chorus America “for entrepreneurial zeal.”

The Rose Ensemble can be heard regularly on American Public Media and the European Broadcasting Union (most notably with annual Christmas broadcasts) and was recently featured in special live broadcasts on Radio France, Chicago Public Radio, Vermont Public Radio and National Public Radio’s Performance Today.

The Rose Ensemble’s 16th anniversary season highlights include appearances at Cornell Concert Series (Ithaca, NY), University of Vermont Lane Series, The National Gallery (Washington, D.C.), Secrest Artist Series (Winston-Salem, NC), J. Paul Getty Museum (Los Angeles, CA), and a collaboration with Piffaro, The Renaissance Band (Philadelphia, PA and MN).

The Rose Ensemble’s latest recording, Il Poverello, is a diverse collection of medieval and Renaissance music for Saint Francis of Assisi."

Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Feb 23, 2008 | Hits: 352

"Cappella Artemisia, founded in 1991, is an all-women’s vocal ensemble based in Bologna, Italy, and consists of a core of 6-10 singers with continuo. Since its inception the ensemble has received critical and popular praise, both for the rarity and originality of its repertoire, and for the high quality of its performances. It has appeared in concert at such prestigious venues as the Festival of Flanders (Bruges and Alden-Biesen), The Holland Festival of Early Music (Utrecht), Il Festival Monteverdiano di Cremona, the Osterfestival Innsbruck, the WDR Festival der Alten Musik in Herne, the Tage Alter Musik in Regensburg, Women and Music (Chard, UK), Donne in Musica and I Concerti al Quirinale (Rome), Les Fêtes Musicales de Savoie (France), and numerous other important festivals of early music throughout Europe and North America. Its concerts have been broadcast by the radios of Italy, France, Belgium, Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Croatia and the United States. In addition to their traditional repertoire of music from Italian convents, the singers of the ensemble have also been involved in a modern staging of Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas in an all-women’s performance recalling that of 1689 at a fashionable boarding school in Chelsea for “Young Gentlewomen”. " See website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Feb 23, 2008 | Hits: 412

"Cappella Nova, founded in 1982 by Alan and Rebecca Tavener, has an unrivalled reputation as champions of Scotland’s unique treasury of early vocal music. The group is also “famous for its performances of contemporary music” (The Guardian), having commissioned and premiered more than 60 new works since 1986. These include John Tavener’s monumental three-hour oratorio, Resurrection (1990), broadcast on BBC Radio 3, and James MacMillan’s cantata for Holy Week Seven Last Words from the Cross (1994), which was the subject of seven short films for BBC2 TV. In 1996 they recorded the award-winning soundtrack by William Sweeney for the Tartan Short film an iobairst. In 2003 they provided ensemble vocals for the critically-acclaimed album Hate by The Delgados. In 2009 they premiered Red, the first a cappella work by Craig Armstrong. Also in 2009, the group appeared in the BBC Scotland television documentary Grace Notes, singing medieval and renaissance Scottish sacred music.

Cappella Nova and its medieval offshoot ensemble, Canty, has made 15 CDs, including ten of medieval and renaissance music for the Sanctuary Classics (Universal) Gaudeamus label, all of which are ‘world premieres in modern times’, and the group is particularly well-known for championing the music of the 16th century Scottish polyphonist, Robert Carver. Besides appearances in many British festivals, the group has toured many times abroad, including several visits to Germany and France, and tours in Ireland, Belgium, Hungary, Russia and the USA. Among Cappella Nova’s awards are several Enterprise Awards from the Performing Right Society and a Glenfiddich Living Scotland Award for their ground-breaking performances of Scottish early music. Cappella Nova is Vocal Ensemble in Residence at the University of Strathclyde and the Company has an office sponsored by the university which also hosts this website."

Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Feb 23, 2008 | Hits: 413

"Based in Inverness in the Highlands of Scotland, the enterprising group of instrumentalists have specialised for over 17 years in performances of the courtly and popular music of Renaissance Scotland on a wide range of early wind, stringed and keyboard instruments and more recently a concort of voices.The Music is researched and edited for the group by its director James Ross, who has also written a comprehensive and copiously illustrated book on music in renaissance Scotland, 'Musick Fyne, Robert Carver and the Art of Music in Renaissance Scotland' (The Mercat Press, Edinburgh 1993). CORONACH now present a season of around twenty concerts a year, bringing this fascinating repertoire to a wider audience through a series of commercial recordings issued on their own CMF label. " See website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Feb 23, 2008 | Hits: 417

"Dulces Voces (Sweet Voices) is a vocal ensemble which specializes in performing secular and sacred music composed before 1750. The group has an eclectic repertoire which spans periods from chant and Burgundian motets to Monteverdi and Purcell.

Dulces Voces is comprised of a group of five singers based in Lincoln, Nebraska. The ensemble performs mostly a cappella music and has no conductor or advisor, therefore it draws on its members for repertoire and performance practice. The members of Dulces Voces come from varying backgrounds and professions, but all members have a profound love for the music performed. " See website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Feb 23, 2008 | Hits: 397

""If music be the food of love, sing on, sing on, 'till I am filled with joy!" -- This is the first line of a song by Henry Purcel inspired by Shakespeare. It is a good summation of our approach to music. Don't do it unless it feels good. In spite of, or probably because of this, we continue to perfect our musical capacities.

One problem with history is that it is often distant and foreign. Our approach to early music is to embody it with our manner and costumes, to give it a living, feeling, human face. When performing our music, we strive to encompass both its sublime beauty and its earthy humour; and all the other human experiences that come between. ...

The largest proportion of performances have been accompanied by sumptuous feasting and drinking. Our preferred venues are intimate country restaurants accommodating from thirty to fifty revelers where we provide music with each service (or "remove" as the Elizabeathans would say). Typically we sing between twenty-five and thirty songs at a feast of five or six courses. " See website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Feb 23, 2008 | Hits: 417

"The Galata Chamber Choir (now spead out all over the world) is composed of 8 members : 2 French, 2 Italians, 1 British all living in Turkey, and 3 Turks. With a humanist thought, their goal is to make music together in an atmosphere of friendship, and to experience a mosaic of cultures.

The repertoire of the Galata Chamber Choir consists of polyphonic works of various composers from the Renaissance and Baroque periods (15th-18th cc.) and is sung in seven different languages : english, french, german, italian, latin, spanish and turkish.

Based on the love of music and people, the Galata Chamber Choir welds different cultures in peace. The benefits from their concerts are left to the competent organizations to help the poor, the elderly, and orphans and children in need.

Whenever possible, the Galata Chamber Choir's concerts take place in historical places. " See website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Feb 23, 2008 | Hits: 288

"Sequentia is one of the world’s most respected and innovative ensembles for medieval music. Founded in 1977 by Benjamin Bagby and the late Barbara Thornton, Sequentia can look back on more than three decades of international concert tours, a comprehensive discography spanning the entire Middle Ages (including the complete works of Hildegard von Bingen), film and television productions of medieval music drama, and new generations of young performers trained in professional courses given by the ensemble.

After 25 years based in Cologne, Germany, Sequentia’s home has been re-established in Paris. In the 2008-2009 season, Sequentia’s newly-formed ensemble of men’s voices, based in Paris, will give the premiere of an innovative new program of vocal polyphony and chant from the Cathedral of Notre Dame. " See website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Feb 23, 2008 | Hits: 469

"Founded in 1989, The Cardinall’s Musick is a highly successful and innovative ensemble. Taking its name from the 16th-century cardinal, Thomas Wolsey, the group is known for its extensive study of English Renaissance music. Although primarily a vocal group, The Cardinall’s Musick also has its own period instrumental ensemble, and now embraces a wide range of styles and periods: from complete reconstructions of historical events (the Field of the Cloth of Gold) to world premieres of commissioned music from composers such as Michael Finnissy, Simon Whalley, Matthew Martin and Judith Weir. " See website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Feb 23, 2008 | Hits: 417

"Formed in 1988 by the Early Music Centre of Great Britain, the Orlando Consort has rapidly achieved a reputation as one of the most expert and consistently challenging groups performing repertoire from the years 1050 to 1500. While all four singers in the group are established soloists, they also contribute enormous experience and expertise in the field of early music gained through working with groups such as the Tallis Scholars and the Gabrieli and Taverner Consorts. Working with leading academics on music that has often never been performed in modern times, they have set new standards of performance, particularly with regard to the pronunciation and tuning of this fascinating repertoire. For their work on the extraordinary techniques of 12th Century Aquitanian polyphony they were awarded the 1996 Noah Greenberg Award by the American Musicological Society. In recent times the Consort has also attracted considerable attention for their imaginative programming of contemporary music and jazz. " See website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Feb 23, 2008 | Hits: 413

"fter twenty-eight years of world-wide performance and recording, The Sixteen is recognised as one of the world’s greatest ensembles. Comprising both choir and period-instrument orchestra, The Sixteen's total commitment to the music it performs is its greatest distinction. Its special reputation for performing early English polyphony, masterpieces of the Renaissance, bringing fresh insights into Baroque and early Classical music and a diversity of 20th Century music, is drawn from the passions of conductor and founder, Harry Christophers. " See website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Feb 24, 2008 | Hits: 398

"The Athestis Chorus & Academia de li Musici is the only permanent, large-scale vocal and instrumental ensemble in Italy that specialises in the performance practice of baroque and classical masses, oratories and cantatas. Established in 1993 by its conductor, Filippo Maria Bressan, the ensemble has an extensive repertoire that encompasses composers from the early 17th century to the early 19th century. Committed to researching its repertoire, developing its performance practice and revitalising the early music of Europe, the ensemble has given numerous modern-day performances of long-forgotten masterpieces such as Francesco Cavalli’s Vespro della Beata Vergine and Grande Messa Concertata, Benedetto Marcello’s Miserere, Requiem and Arianna, and Baldassarre Galuppi’s Messa per San Marco. Recordings of these performances have been enthusiastically received in the UK, France, Germany, Canada and Japan. " See website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Feb 24, 2008 | Hits: 276

"The name of Accademia Bizantina has been firmly established in the narrow circle of ensembles performing on authentic instruments who are rightly recognised as bringing fresh energy and creativity to the interpretation of Baroque music. The path which has led Accademia to its current international success resembles an apologue of over twenty years of instructive formation within the Italian musical world of the highest professional skill and competence. " See website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Feb 24, 2008 | Hits: 408

"It was this spirit of open-mindedness and conviviality uniting the audience, repertory and musicians which drove Pablo Valetti and Céline Frisch to found in 1998 the Café Zimmermann Ensemble.

They assembled six musicians - five bow instruments and a harpsichord (Pablo Valetti, Nick Robinson, violin: Patricia Gagnon, alto; Petr Skalka, cello; Ludek Brany, double bass and Céline Frisch, harpsichord). Other strings or wind instruments would be added depending on the programme. " See website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Feb 24, 2008 | Hits: 407

Discography

• Kapsberger: La Villanella (2001)
• Stefano Landi: Homo fugi velut umbra... (2002)
• La Tarantella: Antidotum Tarantulae (2002)
• All'Improvviso (2004)
• Cavalieri: Rappresentatione di Anima, et di Corpo (2004)
• Los Impossibles
• Monteverdi - Teatro d'Amore (2009)
• Via Crucis (2010)
• Monteverdi - Vespro della Beata Vergine (2011)
• Los Pajaros Perdidos (2012)

Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Feb 24, 2008 | Hits: 392

"Founded in San Francisco in 1986, American Baroque brings together some of America's most accomplished and exciting baroque instrumentalists, with the purpose of defining a new, modern genre for historical instruments. The group's adventurous programs combine 18th-century music with new works, composed for the group through collaborations and commissions from American composers. An ensemble of eclectic, accomplished, and artful musicians, the performances bridge a gap between the edges of the new music frontier and the familiar roads to music of the past, and expands the repertoire and scope of historical instruments into the new millenium.

After many accomplishments in the field of early music, in the early 1990s American Baroque began exploring the territory of performing new music written for historical instruments through its collaboration with composer, member and gambist Roy Whelden and his pieces Quartet After Abel and Gamba Quartet, which resulted in a CD release on the New Albion label in 1993. Intrigued by the unique timbres and subtlety of sounds inherent in their period instruments, the group continued to pursue projects and programming that involved combinations of new and old elements. Collaborations with such artists and composers as Rudy Rucker, Jonathan Berger, Carl Stone, and the Common Sense Composers Collective yielded an unprecented number of commissioned works written specifically for the group's instruments. " See website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Mar 02, 2008 | Hits: 291

"Clerestory is named for the architectural element of certain churches whereby daylight enters the sanctuary through a row of windows at the top of the nave. This name represents the illumination that serious music brings into our lives. We tell the "clear story" of the music we sing, through sophisticated, historically-informed performances, as well as through original, scholarly notes on the program. " See website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Mar 02, 2008 | Hits: 347

"With each vibrant performance, La Monica engages the music and the audience with passion and affection. Their artful programming and dramatic flair have established this dynamic combination of solo soprano voice and string ensemble at the forefront of the American early music scene.

La Monica delivers refreshing recitals exploring the depths and heights of 17th and 18th century music, whether theatrical or lyrical, obscure or celebrated. The ensemble has appeared on New York’s prestigious concert series, Music Before 1800, and has also been presented by the J. Paul Getty Museum, Houston Early Music, the Pittsburgh Renaissance & Baroque Society, San Francisco Early Music Society, and early music festivals of Bloomington, Indianapolis, Amherst and Washington’s Whidbey Island. " See website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Mar 02, 2008 | Hits: 358

"Mostly Motets is a small vocal ensemble that sings sacred music primarily from the Renaissance and earlier. The group typically sings works by 15th and 16th century composers such as: Byrd, Tallis, Palestrina, Victoria, Dufay, Desprez, and Frye as well as some Gregorian chant and other works from the Middle Ages. " See website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Mar 02, 2008 | Hits: 353

"Music of the Spheres™, formed in 2000, is an early music group based in San Francisco and Atlanta, consisting of Baroque violinist Jeanne Johnson, Baroque cellist Joanna Blendulf, and harpsichordist Yuko Tanaka. Music of the Spheres has performed at the 2006 Tage Alter Musik Festival in Regensburg, Germany, on the San Francisco Early Music Society series, as a main event for the 2002 Bloomington and Berkeley Early Music Festivals, and on several broadcasts of "Harmonia" and “Performance Today.” Highlights of 2007 include a performance on the Frick Collection series in New York.

We give lively, fun and informative performances, often interacting informally with our audiences and speaking about composers, history and our instruments. Our programs focus primarily on music of the 17th and 18th centuries, and in addition to performing major works by well-known composers, we also introduce little-known composers and works which are new to our audiences. We are available for concerts, series, festivals, recordings and advanced master classes. Our CD’s are available at www.magnatune.com. " See website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Mar 02, 2008 | Hits: 357